Title/Author:
“Roaring Back: The
Fall and Rise of Tiger Woods” by Curt Sampson
Tags:
Golf, history,
biography, championship
Publish date:
October 29, 2019
Length:
304 pages
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
It isn’t too big a stretch to
consider the victory by Tiger Woods at the 2019 Masters tournament to be considered
the greatest comeback in the history of sports – any sport. While that claim can be debated, no one will
consider that comeback by a man whose many physical issues and personal
problems were put on public display as one of the best stories of recent
years. Long time golf writer Curt
Sampson tells the story of Woods’ epic win and something that is hard for any
golf journalist to obtain or discuss – some insight into Tiger Woods the man.
If a reader is looking for a lot of
salacious details about the very public affairs of Woods that led to his
divorce and subsequent treatment for sex addiction, the reader will have to
look elsewhere. Sampson rarely mentions
these in the book and when he does, he calls the infamous night in which Woods’
wife learned of the affairs as the “Revelation” as in Woods won the Masters
nearly 10 years after the Revelation. This
reviewer appreciated this as the book focused more on other aspects of Woods’ life
such as his warrior demeanor - the section on his desire to be a Navy SEAL was
very interesting reading.
Sampson writes about several people
who were close in Woods’ inner circle during his best days in golf but are no
longer a part of the circle, such as Steve Williams, Butch Harmon and of course
his late father. These insights, most of
which have been told in other publications or media, seemed fresh in this
context and will help a reader understand the complex man that is Woods.
Sampson doesn’t leave his good writing only about Woods. His passages about the Augusta National course, especially those about the par three 12th hole during the last round of the 2019 tourney when three of the four men who were within two shots of the lead were battling to take control of the final round. Woods was the only one of the foursome (Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau and Francis Molinari were the other three) who avoided Rae’s Creek on that infamous hole of Amen Corner. It should also be noted that the reader will learn more about and actually feel a little sorry for these three excellent golfers who succumbed to Woods on that Sunday.
Finally, the ending of the book is
also quite good as Sampson reminds the reader that while they are closing the
book, the book on Tiger Woods’ career is not closed yet and it will be one of
the great mysteries in sports to see how this develops. Will he regain that form that made him the
best player in the game for nearly a decade and one that many consider to be
the greatest in the history of golf, or will the 2019 Masters be a once-in-a-lifetime
comeback for him? If one wants to learn
more about this comeback and the complete story, this is the book to get.
I wish to thank Diversion Books for
providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
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